On August 19, 2016, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (the GLSL Cities Initiative) requested a hearing before the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council (the Compact Council) regarding the Compact Council’s June 21, 2016 decision to approve the City of Waukesha’s application for a diversion of Great Lakes Basin Water.

The Compact Council was established in 2008 pursuant to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (the Compact). The Compact details how the States will work together to manage and protect the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin. The Compact Council is comprised of the Governors of each of the eight Great Lakes States (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin).

The Compact prohibits diversions of Great Lakes water outside of the Great Lakes Basin, with limited exceptions. One exception allows a community that is not located within the Great Lakes Basin, but is located within a county that is partly within the Great Lakes Basin, such as the City of Waukesha, to apply for a diversion of Great Lakes water if that community can meet strict conditions. The City of Waukesha submitted an application for a diversion of Great Lakes water in 2011, and a revised application in 2013. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources approved Waukesha’s diversion application and sent the application to the Compact Council in January 2015. The Compact Council approved Waukesha’s Great Lakes diversion application, with conditions, on June 21, 2016.

The GLSL Cities Initiative is a binational coalition of over 120 U.S. and Canadian mayors and local officials, representing over 17 million people, working to advance the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. The GLSL Cities Initiative maintains that the Compact Council’s decision to approve Waukesha’s diversion of Lake Michigan water fails to protect the integrity of the Compact. The request for hearing states that:

Allowing a Diversion that is contrary to the strict requirements of the Compact threatens the resource that provides drinking water for 40 million people and is the foundation upon which a strong regional economy is based, to the detriment of the members of the GLSL Cities Initiative.

To date, the Compact Council has not responded to the request for hearing.